In Too Deep

Je

“I never believed that you were involved in the club lanterns,” Fallon said.

Je

Isabella touched Je

“It was all my fault.” Je

“If it hadn’t been the magic-lantern technology, it would have been something else that got Tucker into trouble,” Fallon said. “He liked living on the edge. As time went by, the adrenaline rush of proving that he was smarter and faster than everyone else became his personal drug of choice.”

“Yes,” Je

“Proving that he could outmaneuver Jones & Jones was the ultimate challenge,” Fallon said.

Je

“I never blamed you,” Fallon said. “You had to make a choice between believing your brother or a man you did not know very well. Hell, if I’d been in your shoes, I would have made the same choice.”

Je

“Family is something we Joneses understand,” Fallon said.

Je

Isabella hugged her again. “Now you need to forgive yourself, Je

Je

Isabella smiled and released her. “Never mind. Just a figure of speech.”

Je

“About what?” he asked.

“A moment ago you said that I’d been forced to choose between believing my brother or a man I did not know very well. That’s the truth. I didn’t know you very well, Fallon.”

“No,” he agreed.

“Even if things had been different, I don’t think that would have changed,” Je

“Probably not.”

“There’s something else I need to tell you about that night. Even if there had been no Arcane Club and no magic lanterns and things had not ended the way they did, I was going to give you back your ring.”

“I know,” Fallon said.

She shook her head, rueful now. “Of course you do. You’re Fallon Jones, the brilliant chaos theory-talent. You can see the pattern before anyone else.”

“Not always,” he said. “But you were right, Je

She gave him another misty smile. “We both made the same mistake when we got engaged. We thought we could rely on logic and reason when it came to choosing a mate.”

“Obviously a false assumption,” Fallon said.

Je

She turned and walked back toward the lights of the ballroom. Isabella jacked up her other vision. The terrible fog was already diminishing. With luck, Je

Fallon came to stand beside Isabella. They waited until Je

“You knew she was going to give you back your ring that night?” Isabella asked.

“Doesn’t take a lot of talent to know when you’re about to get dumped. Even I could see it coming.”

“And if she hadn’t ended things first?”

“I would have had to do it,” he said. “You heard her. Je

“Everyone has secrets. Everyone has a private place. I don’t think it’s ever possible to know anyone completely. I don’t think we would want to know someone that well even if it were possible. Part of what makes other people interesting is that there is always some mystery beneath the surface.”

“The kind of knowing I’m talking about goes deeper than secrets,” Fallon said.

She thought about that. “I see what you mean.”

“Do you?” He shook his head. “Then you’re way ahead of me because I sure as hell couldn’t define it.”

“But you’ll recognize that kind of knowing if you ever find it?”

“Yes,” he said. “So? What does it mean?”

“To want to know someone in a way that goes deeper than just learning a person’s secrets? It means you’re a hopeless romantic, Fallon Jones.”

There was a heartbeat of stu

Isabella sensed a presence behind her. When she turned around she saw Zack and Raine silhouetted in the entrance of the ballroom. As she watched, a number of other Joneses, including Fallon’s parents, gathered to watch the spectacle on the terrace. The expressions on their faces ran a short gamut from stu

She poked Fallon in the ribs. “We’ve got an audience,” she whispered.

His laughter faded. He turned to look at the crowd in the doorway.

“Good joke?” Zack asked.

“Best one I’ve heard in a long time,” Fallon said.

24

The auction started at ten. Fallon stood with Isabella at the back of the room. A hush fell over the crowd. The auctioneer picked up his gavel.

Fallon took Isabella’s arm.

“We can leave now,” he said, keeping his voice low.

She glanced at him, surprised. “Don’t you want to see who bids on those weird artifacts in the display cases?”

“No. I’ve had about as much socializing as I can handle for one evening. I’ve done what Zack asked, helped him provide a show of force. He can handle the Society’s politics from here on in. That’s what he gets paid to do.”

Her eyes narrowed a little in suspicion, but she allowed him to steer her out of the ballroom and into the hallway.

“You’re up to something,” she whispered. “I can tell.”

“You know us small-town folks. Early to bed and early to rise.”

“Ha. What’s going on, Jones?”

“We’re leaving first thing in the morning.”

“Define first thing,” she shot back.

“After breakfast.”

“Okay, that’s not so bad. You’re anxious to get back to Scargill Cove?”

“We have a lot of work waiting for us.” The we surprised him, coming out of his mouth as it did. For so long he had thought of the agency as his sole responsibility. But lately he had begun to think of Isabella as something more than an assistant or even an investigator. He was starting to treat her like a partner. That was probably not wise.

“Yes,” she said, looking satisfied at the prospect. “J&J never sleeps.”

“There’s another reason for getting an early start.”

She gave him an expectant look.

He drew her through the lobby toward the elevators. “We’re going to make a stop on the way back to the Cove.”